CNBC reporter Kate Kelly kicked off an in-depth series of segments Tuesday morning that delve deep into the expansive impact social media and mobile technologies are having on the contemporary financial world.
Passing through Giltner, Neb. early last August, farmer Mike Haley used his Twitter account to post a message, or tweet, about a particularly robust corn crop.
Showcasing how farmers use their mobile devices in corn fields across the world, CNBC investigates the many ways in which traders are now gaining valuable insights – and earning significant profits – from this emerging mobile savvy overcoming the 21st century farmer.
“Truth be told,” independent grain trader Thomas Grisafi (@IndianaGrainCo) tells Business Insider on Tuesday Morning, “I don’t sit in front of my computer screens for hours on end monitoring the Twitter stream. I employ staff to extract news, data, and other insights pertinent to markets on any given day. Learning to reconcile this information with one’s instinct, which is developed and honed over time, is crucial to succeeding as a trader, especially in the age of electronic trading.”
Once a convenient outlet for boredom on the tractor, Kate Kelly reports, “tweeting with fellow farmers has become a way for the participants in a far-flung and isolating business to compare notes on everything from weather conditions to new fertilizers. And now, commodities brokers and traders are paying close attention.”
“A lot of time farmers are talking to other farmers and I’m sitting there listening,” says Thomas Elwood of The Linn Group, aka @cornbroker, who trades corn and other grains on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. “Twitter is kind of like a big coffee house,” he said.
Watch Kate Kelly’s “Trading on Twitter” reports, Tuesday, March 8, on Squawk Box, Squawk on the Street and Power Lunch and Wednesday, March 9, on Squawk Box, The Call, The Strategy Session and Fast Money on CNBC.
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